Trades union urges authorities to probe Malindo over strip interview

Earlier this week, Malay Mail reported several women claiming they had been subject to obnoxious grooming checks during a recent job interview for flight attendants with the regional airlines, including being told to remove their tops and lift up their skirts to check for blemish marks like scars, tattoos and even pimples. — AFP pic

KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — Police as well as the transport, human resources, and welfare authorities should investigate Malindo Airline for possible criminal misconduct following claims women job seekers were asked to remove their tops, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) said today.

Its secretary-general J. Solomon said if true, the incident would be a violation of privacy, sexual abuse and a criminal offence.

“We refer to the media report by NUFAM and Malindo Airlines; such process if confirmed is a sexual abuse and tantamount to a criminal offence and requires immediate police intervention,” he said in a statement.

“The Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Ministry of Human Resources and the Police should conduct an immediate investigation and get to the bottom of this; and if true to ensure such demeaning methodology in an interview is stopped immediately and the perpetrators dealt with seriously,” he added.

Earlier this week, Malay Mail reported several women claiming they had been subject to obnoxious grooming checks during a recent job interview for flight attendants with the regional airlines, including being told to remove their tops and lift up their skirts to check for blemish marks like scars, tattoos and even pimples.

Malindo’s public relations and communications director Raja Sa’adi Raja Amrin defended the checks as standard procedure and claimed other airlines conducted similar routines.

NUFAM, which is the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia, has expressed outrage on behalf of the potential recruits and vowed to defend them.